The outpost was alive with the noise of adventurers. Some boasted of hunts, tossing pelts and claws onto traders' tables. Others sat in clusters, nursing wounds and grumbling about lost comrades. The forge roared, sparks scattering into the air as a smith hammered crude weapons into sharper edge.
Alexis and Lyra bound themselves at the shrine, the soft white light washing over their bodies as the respawn mark etched faintly into their skin.
"Insurance," Lyra muttered, flexing her hand where the mark glowed faintly.
"Not a guarantee," Alexis said, his tone flat. "Death still costs."
She smirked. "Then let's not die."
The two set out east, guided by crude maps nailed onto wooden boards at the outpost gate. The forest grew denser, roots rising like walls, branches clawing at their path. Hours passed before they reached a jagged cleft in the hillside, where the ground yawned into darkness.
The mouth of the cave reeked of smoke and rot. Bones lay scattered, gnawed and broken. Flickering torchlight glowed faintly within.
The Goblin Den.
[System]:Dungeon Entered — Goblin Den (Field Dungeon).
Dungeon Type: Repeatable
Difficulty: D Tier
Objective: Defeat the Goblin Chieftain
They descended into the darkness.
The air was damp, filled with the stench of unwashed bodies and blood. Echoes of chittering laughter bounced through the stone halls. Alexis moved silently, katana drawn, Lyra close behind with her daggers ready.
The first chamber opened wide — and goblins swarmed. A dozen of them, waiting, their yellow eyes glowing in the torchlight. Crude traps lined the floor: sharpened sticks, tripwires, pits.
"They knew we were coming," Lyra murmured.
"Or they always wait," Alexis replied, and then the pack rushed.
The battle was chaos.
Alexis's blade cut arcs of silver light through the dark, deflecting spears, cleaving skulls. He moved with precision, but every strike ate away at his stamina, his breaths growing heavier.
Lyra darted between shadows, striking throats and eyes, her agility letting her bypass traps. Twice she shoved Alexis aside just as a rope-snare snapped up from the ground, or a spike trap shot from the wall.
Minutes stretched like hours. One by one, the goblins fell, their shrieks echoing. Blood smeared stone, pooling black underfoot.
When the last dropped, panting silence filled the chamber.
[System]:Room Cleared.
Loot Acquired:
x2 Goblin Daggers (Poor)x4 Goblin Claws+89 Silver+210 EXP
They pressed on.
The second chamber opened into a cavern lined with crude wooden huts, goblin families huddled inside. Not just warriors — but young and frail. The moment Alexis and Lyra stepped in, the warriors charged, snarling, desperate.
"Stronger," Alexis muttered as his blade locked against a jagged axe.
"More desperate," Lyra corrected, cutting another across the hamstring before it could reach her throat.
The fight dragged longer, the goblins coordinated, their numbers pushing Alexis and Lyra to the limit. Lyra's arm dripped blood where a club had grazed her, Alexis's shoulder burned from a spear thrust that barely missed his heart.
Finally, the last warrior fell, its body slumping over the crude wooden floor.
Lyra wiped her blade, her breathing ragged. "And we're not even at the end yet."
At last, they reached the final chamber.
It was vast — a cavern illuminated by a roaring bonfire. Crude banners hung from the walls, painted in streaks of blood. At the far end sat the Goblin Chieftain, taller and broader than any goblin they had faced, its body corded with muscle. Jagged bone armor covered its chest, and in its hand it gripped a crude warclub as long as Alexis was tall.
The Chieftain rose with a guttural roar.
[System]:Dungeon Boss Encounter — Goblin Chieftain (C Tier).
The beast charged, swinging its warclub. The air howled with the force of its strike. Alexis caught it on his blade, but the impact rattled his bones, throwing him backward.
Lyra darted low, her daggers flashing against the chieftain's leg — but the bone armor deflected the strike, sparks flying. The goblin's backhand caught her mid-motion, throwing her into the cavern wall. She coughed blood, staggering to her feet.
"Armor's too thick!" she hissed.
"Then we break it," Alexis growled.
The battle was brutal.
Alexis deflected blows that could shatter stone, every block draining his stamina bar dangerously close to collapse. His swings grew slower, his breath ragged, but he never faltered. Lyra targeted gaps in the armor — the joints, the throat, the underarm — carving shallow wounds that bled but did not fell the beast.
The Chieftain roared, spinning its club in a wide arc that shattered a support pillar, stone crashing down. Alexis shoved Lyra clear, the impact grazing his side and tearing flesh.
His vision blurred. His stamina bar flashed crimson.
But still, he rose.
Lyra's voice cut through the haze. "Now, Alexis! While it's open!"
The chieftain raised its club for one final strike — and Alexis moved.
He stepped in, katana drawn in both hands, every drop of his will poured into the motion. His blade cut upward in a single, perfect arc — slicing through the bone armor at the chieftain's chest. The steel bit deep, carving flesh, splitting muscle.
Lyra darted in behind him, both daggers driving into the beast's throat.
The Goblin Chieftain staggered, its roar choking to silence. It collapsed forward, blood hissing against the bonfire.
The cavern trembled with silence.
[System]:Goblin Chieftain Defeated. Dungeon Cleared.
Loot Acquired:
Goblin Chieftain's Warclub (Uncommon, Heavy, Poorly Balanced)Chieftain's Bone Plate Fragment (Crafting Material)x6 Goblin Claws+145 Silver+350 EXP
[System]:Dungeon Cleared by Party of 2 — Efficiency Bonus Applied.
Lyra slumped to the cavern floor, breathing hard, blood streaking her cheek. Her grin returned, faint but sharp.
"Not bad for day one."
Alexis slid his blade back into its sheath, his body trembling but upright. His gaze lingered on the chieftain's corpse.
"This is only the beginning," he said.
The fire crackled, casting shadows across the stone walls. For a moment, silence returned to the Goblin Den. But far above, the Tower stirred, recording another step taken, another name etched into its silent ledger.
And the climb had only just begun.
Chapter 1 Part 2.5 : Ashes of the Den
The goblin den stank of smoke and blood. Corpses lay scattered across the cavern floor, the firelight painting grotesque shadows against the walls. Alexis stood still for a long moment, hand on the hilt of his sheathed katana, steadying his breath. His body ached, his stamina dangerously low — the weight of exhaustion pulling at his very bones.
Beside him, Lyra slumped against a stone pillar, wiping her daggers clean on a ragged strip of cloth cut from a fallen goblin's cloak. She spat a streak of blood to the ground, then laughed weakly.
"Two against a chieftain," she said, voice hoarse. "Not bad for a warm-up."
Alexis glanced at her. A bruise spread across her cheekbone where the chieftain's blow had caught her. Still, she smiled — sharp and unshaken.
"We got reckless," he replied, tone low. "If that strike had landed—"
"But it didn't." She pushed herself to her feet, sheathing her blades with a flourish. "And now we're richer, stronger, and still breathing. I'd call that a win."
They gathered what loot remained, Alexis hefting the crude warclub with one hand. It was unwieldy, heavy, poorly balanced — a weapon more fit for trade than combat. Lyra collected claws and bone fragments, tucking them into a pouch at her belt.
The dungeon's air shifted. The oppressive weight lifted, the fire dimmed, and the torches along the walls burned out one by one.
[System]:Dungeon Cleared — Exit Unlocked.
A circle of faint light shimmered on the cavern floor. Alexis and Lyra stepped into it, and the world warped.
They emerged into daylight at the outpost's edge. The smell of pine and smoke replaced the reek of goblin filth. The walls of wood and stone loomed ahead, the sound of voices and hammering filling the air.
Adventurers turned to look as the pair strode back through the gates. Some eyes widened at the sight of bloodied clothes, the crude warclub slung over Alexis's shoulder. Others narrowed — calculating, wary.
A blacksmith barked a laugh. "You two come back in one piece? Didn't expect that from a pair walking in alone."
"They cleared it?" a younger adventurer whispered, eyes wide. "The goblin den?"
Word spread fast. Some gazes shifted from surprise to respect — others to jealousy.
Lyra leaned closer to Alexis, her voice low. "We're already getting attention."
"Let them look," Alexis replied, carrying the warclub to the nearest trader's stall. "Attention doesn't kill us. Carelessness does."
The trader, a balding man with soot-streaked hands, eyed the warclub and whistled. "Chieftain's, isn't it? Poor make, but some fool will pay silver for the bragging rights." He dropped a pouch onto the table. "Fifty silver. Take it or leave it."
Alexis accepted without a word. Lyra rolled her eyes. "You're no fun, you know that?"
They bound their wounds, rested briefly at the shrine, and shared a simple meal at the outpost's tavern. The stew was thin, the bread hard — but it filled the emptiness in their stomachs. Around them, adventurers argued about dungeon runs, loot splits, and the dangers of the deeper forest.
"Did you hear? Someone saw an ogre deeper in the woods."
"Lies. Floor One doesn't spawn ogres."
"What about the fire wolf yesterday? My party barely made it out alive."
Rumors wove through the air like smoke. Some true, some not. All fed the outpost's restless hunger.
Later, as night fell over the false sky, Alexis and Lyra sat outside the palisade, the forest stretching before them in dark silence. The grass whispered under the phantom wind.
"What now?" Lyra asked, lying back against the earth, her eyes glinting in the firelight.
Alexis rested his hands on his knees, gaze fixed on the horizon. "We push deeper. Learn the floor. Grow stronger."
Lyra smirked. "And when the next big thing shows its face, we cut it down."
For a moment, silence lingered between them, broken only by the distant howl of a wolf.
The Tower loomed in the distance, vast and unmoving, its shadow falling even here.
The climb had only begun.